Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Paging the American People: Your Power Is Calling

Every now and then, I take a subject off and concentrate on something else. You can’t process everything. That’s how the Dubai port deal hit me. I read some columns, listened to Don Imus on tape, and thought about it, hoping my colleagues would do the job. They didn’t. For them it was whether or not this was a good idea from a security point of view. There was even a superior tone from the few who claimed it was a mistake to cancel it – that Dubai is the type of place we should be helping in the Middle East. All of this completely missed the major point, which is why I’m forced back into action on the topic.The point with Dubai was that the American people were against the deal with sufficient numbers and with sufficient anger that it simply couldn’t go on. Much of the stuff President Bush pushes through Congress is at odds with the interests of a majority of the American people. He’s been acting like he can do any damn thing he wants and we just have to take it. Dubai was important because the White House issued its decision, and smugly told us what would happen, and the American people took the deal, folded it up into a nice tight roll, and told the White House to shove it. That was what Dubai was about. The People still ultimately control the government, given enough energy in their response.If the same threshold is ever met on the war in iraq, it will end, as well, and in a hurry. There’s a level of displeasure that the electorate sometimes arrives at that no politician can deal with. Iraq would be over in weeks, if enough of us wanted it that way. Lately, I’ve been a little discouraged about defeatist comments regarding a range of topics from the tram to the elections this year. Granted the rigging of elections is a huge problem but even that would fade with the right level of public outrage. These dreary comments seem resigned to the notion that nothing can be done – that things like the protest of the war the other day are futile gestures. I’m sure there were people who felt the Boston Tea Party was a pointless protest, too. That helped to start this country, and with no TV coverage. Besides, the King George they had to deal with, was a lot farther away than ours. Yet, the people spoke out and America was born. The Dubai Deal was a very dangerous situation for the powers that be. They exist on the momentum of their control. The last thing President Bush wants is for the American People to realize who really could be in charge. That's why the White House caved in on that as quickly as humanly possible. Why dwell on the possibilities? The famous Bush resolve? Gone in 60 seconds. There was no way our leaders wanted to prolong the fact that the People were telling them what to do. Not asking them, or pleading with them….no, we were telling them.That’s why Dubai was important. We shouldn’t forget our power, even though our leaders wish that we would. If we want to stop this Iraq war, we can stop it. if we want to stop the tram, we can stop it. Ask Dubai.